ABOUT OUR COLLEGE

Our History

Prior to the establishment of a college of education at WVU, teacher education
and education administration programs had been housed in the WVU College of Arts
and Sciences and were directed by Jasper Newton Deahl. Holding undergraduate degrees from George Peabody and Harvard College, and a
master’s and doctorate degree from the Teachers College at Columbia
University, Deahl was driven by the importance he felt education held in society
and began lobbying to establish a separate College of Education within the
University.

Deahl gained the support of West Virginia University President Frank Trotter (1916-1927).
Trotter and Deahl believed that an independent college was necessary for the professional
preparation of teachers and education administrators. A separate College of Education
was created at West Virginia University on July 2, 1927, with Deahl as the
founding dean.

At its inception, the College of Education was based in iconic Woodburn Hall and
offered degrees in seven divisions: agricultural education; industrial education;
home economics; rural education; visual education; professional teacher training;
and the University High School. Established in 1925, University High School served
as the “laboratory school” for the new College of Education. The students
attending University High School were from the Cass, Union, and Clinton school
districts, which did not have a high school at the time. Deahl believed these students
better represented rural West Virginia and thus provided future teachers exposure
to the type of student they were likely to face in the classroom.

In the early years, according to professor emeritus Thomas J. Brennan, a decision
was made “not to duplicate the extensive teacher education programs of the state
colleges.” Thus, the College of Education was predominantly a two-year college.
Students who wanted to become teachers took subjects in various WVU colleges before
transferring to the College of Education for their final two years of professional
training.

In 1947, twenty years after it was established, the College of Education extended
its program offerings beyond secondary education when it began preparing primary
school teachers. The College went on to grant its first undergraduate degree in
elementary education in 1950.

The College of Education expanded substantially in the mid-1960s, when it became
known as the College of Human Resources and Education. At that time, the term “human
resources” had not yet acquired its now universal reference to “personnel.” In
addition to the Division of Education and the Division of Clinical Studies (which
included counseling and guidance, speech pathology and audiology, special education,
rehabilitation counseling and developmental reading), there were two other divisions:
Home Economics and Social Work.

In 1969, the addition to Percival Hall known as Allen Hall was completed, and the
College of Human Resources and Education moved from the downtown campus to its
new home in Allen Hall on the Evansdale campus, where it continues to reside.

In 2012, the WVU Board of Governors approved a change of name to the College
of Education and Human Services to better represent its programs and educational
goals, as well as to avoid confusion with WVU’s own Division of Human Resources.
Today, the College of Education and Human Services (CEHS) comprises five academic
departments:

With a rich history of serving West Virginia, the mission and specific goals of CEHS
continue to evolve, as do its programs. Now, over ninety years after it was
established, CEHS continues to meet the changing needs of the community that it
serves. The College is proud of the degree opportunities that it offers, its
student body, its alumni, and its dedicated faculty and staff. While recognizing
its distinguished past, CEHS remains ever-focused on the future.